276 Presidential Addresses 



shall be followed, when once this power has been 

 conferred, by a system giving to the government 

 the full knowledge which is the essential for satis 

 factory action. Then, when this knowledge one of 

 the essential features of which is proper publicity 

 has been gained, what further steps of any kind are 

 necessary can be taken with the confidence born of 

 the possession of power to deal with the subject, and 

 of a thorough knowledge of what should and can 

 be done in the matter. We need additional power, 

 and we need knowledge. . . . Such legislation 

 whether obtainable now or obtainable only after 

 a Constitutional amendment should provide for a 

 reasonable supervision, the most prominent feature 

 of which at first should be publicity; that is, the 

 making public, both to the government authorities 

 and to the people at large, the essential facts in 

 which the public is concerned. This would give us 

 exact knowledge of many points which are now not 

 only in doubt but the subject of fierce controversy. 

 Moreover, the mere fact of the publication would 

 cure some very grave evils, for the light of day is a 

 deterrent to wrongdoing. It would doubtless dis 

 close other evils with which, for the time being, we 

 could devise no way to grapple. Finally, it would 

 disclose others which could be grappled with and 

 cured by further legislative action." 



In my Message to Congress for 1901 I said: 

 "In the interest of the whole people the Nation 

 should, without interfering with the power of the 

 States in the matter, itself also assume power of 



